Reborn
by Shur'tugal Justin
Summary: Follow the newest Riders and their allies as they try to bring peace to an ever changing kingdom. But is there a bigger threat looming that their elders may have overlooked?
1. New Beginning

**Hey guys! I'm writing this new story about my favorite books! I would appreciate feedback and reviews so please leave those so I canconttinue to get better and hopefully make this story better for you readers! I'll try to post a new chapter at least twice a week over the summer, but I might slow down whenever school gets back underway. But that's so far away don't worry about it. Again please leave some reviews so I can make this story better.**

The old story-teller sat down in the Great Hall. He grunted as he lowered himself into the stool by the fire he always sat in while telling the stories and tales that he had become known for in the town. He watched with glee as people began to gather around him. He found particular joy as small children began to gather around. he loved the children and they loved his stories. Soon the entire Great Hall filled up as farmers and merchants filed into the Hall after a long day's work. They too wanted to hear the story tellers epics. The old man waited a few more minutes to start.

"Mal-Man? What story are you gonna tell us tonight?" The Mal-Man chuckled as the girl called him by his alias. He thought back to when he had first started using it, and how misprounounciation of the Ancient Language had led to the title of "Mal-Man". He was about to answer the girl who asked when some strangers wearing long cloaks with the deep cowls pulled up walked into the Great Hall, letting in some of the last winter chill. The Mal-Man cried out a greeting, as did quite a few of the crowd. The strangeres stayed quiet except for one, who ordered drinks for all of them. the Mal-Man waited for them to get settled before answering the girl's question.

"I have not the least bit of a clue," he said playfully, "What would you like to hear?" The old story-teller winced as each and every person in the Hall shouted out for their own favorite story to be told. He silenced the crowd by raisin g his hands for silence. In the silence that followed a child, a small boy of no more than five, said, "Mar-Man? Could you tell us a new story? One that we haven't heard before?"

The old man pondered for a bit, then seemed to get excited with himself. "Would you like to hear a story about adventure?" His question was met with a resounding "yes" from the crowd. "A story of romance?" Again he was answered by a deafening roar of approval. "Maybe with some humor? Some magic? A few elves? Maybe a handfull of dwarves?" Every question was punctuated by a chorus of "Yes's". Finally the Mar-Man asked his final questionB, "Would you like to hear about . . . Dragon Riders?" This time the resounding whoops and cheers nearly knocked the Mar-Man nearly out of his chair. Even the silent strangers in the back raised their fists and yelled in the affirmative.

The old story-teller chuckled as the cheers died off, replaced by an excited silence. Finally, after what seemed like decadeds, the old man started his story, "It all started on a day much like today, day in late winter, when farmers had just begunn to plant their crops, and the last of the winter chill lingered like a rotten stench. It was about ten years after the Evil King, Galbatorix, and his dragon ,Shruiken, had been slain. A tournament was being held in Cuenon. Now, this wasn't a normal tournament for knights or jousters, no, this tournament was open to all and commoners were invited and expected to participate. This tournament was held as a show-off competition for some very special guests . . ."

Tyler shoved his way through the crowd, trying to get closer to the ring. A few people parted for him, but the majority of people stayed rooted to their spots. After many pushes and shoves, and even more curses spat at him, he was finally close enough to see the fight going on above the heads of the children in the front row. Tyler watched closely at the duel going on in the middle of the ring.

Justin circled the ring, staring at his opponent, an Urgal. The creature was a lot larger than him, and much stronger. He couldn't move very fast though, and Justin would have to use that to his advantage. He crouched low behind his shield and waited for the Urgal to attack. Sure enough, the Urgal's hot blood got the better of him and he charged forward, running full speed, head lowered, at Justin. Justin waited until the very last second, then dove to the left and slashed at the Urgal's legs. The Urgal crashed and slid to the outer edge of the circle where people were scrambling to get away as to aviod being rolled over. Justin looked over as the first of the three flags he would need to win the match went up, nd he smiled in satisfaction. He was the only human who had elected to figh one of the giant creatures, and he was going to be awarded extra points for it. But hee was less interestedin thte points and more interested in showing off.

Justin wasn't paying attentionas the Urgal reagained it's wits and charged again. This time the Urgal connected, and his horns smashed cruely into Justin's ribs. Justin flew back about ten feet and hit the hard bricks. He heard a loud _crack_ as he landed. The Urgal roared in triumph and several people cheered in the crowd. Justin winced as he stood up adn his side seared in pain when he raised his sheild arm. He looked as a flag was raised for the Urgal. Justin tried to raise his sheild again and almost yelled in pain as his side burned again. Justin stopped and thought for a second. He couldn't fight with his left side burning so badly, but he also couldn't yield or his pride would kill him. He thought of about a hundred solutions in just a few seconds, but only one stood out. he hurried over to the the edge of the circle and handed his shield to a girl in the crowd that looked around his age, "Hold that for me will you," he said with a wink and the girl nodded.

"Go get him. Win for all of us."

Justin again faced the Urgal again. The creature still seemed to be enjoying his victory, although, he was looking at Justin again. Justin began to circle and the Urgal followed his lead. They circled around the edge of the ring once before either attcked. This time it was Justin who initiated the fighting. He rushed st the Urgal and scored a slash across the warrior's chest before retreating back to a safe distance.

Another flag went up for Justin.

The Urgal didn't hesitate this time to let Justin enjoy his victory. He charged in and struck Justin on his shoulder with his axe. Now they were tied. Justin thought of the next move like a chess player might think of the best way to move his queen. He thought and decided how to put his opponent into checkmate. Justin rushed forward again, aiming a stab at the Urgsl's chest, just as the Urgal aimed an overhead slash that would have enough power to cleave Justin in half. Ri

ght before the axe struck Justin neatly side-stepped the blow and slashed the Urgal's back.

The third flag went up for Justin.

Cheers roared up from the crowd as they saw the flag flip up. Only a few people in the crowd didn't cheer, mostly Urgals, but also a few people who either didn't like Justin, or people who had bet against him. Tun, the city's healer, came of to heal Justin's ribs. Although they were using dulled blades, injuries still happened, and Justin was glad Tun was there to heal him. He went up to the Urgal and offered his hand to the Urgal, who seemedd to take his take his defeat well enough, and the Urgal took it in his giant hand and shook. "You've won much glory for your tribe today," the Urgal said in his growl of a voice.

"As did you. You fought well and I was afraid of defeat there for a while," Justin replied to the creature. They parted ways as the Urgal went to joins his own kind, who greeted him in their own language, and Justin went towards the humans. The first person he went to was the girl he had handed his shield to. She relinquished it and told Justin good job. Justin then waded through the crowd and the chorus of "good job's" that random people called out at him. The second personto greet him was Tyler. Instead of a good job like everyone else, Tyler greeted him by telling Justin everything he had done wrong on the match. From the smallest mess up on a block to allowing his small victory at first distract him from the fight.

"But other than those few mistakes," Tyler said after listing off about twenty screw ups, "You did great."


	2. Humble Beginnings

**Hey guys! I'm back with the second chapter, and I hope you guys like it! I need all the reviews I can get so can improve the story as much as possible. Ok, I suck at these note things so I'm just gonna go right into the story now. Oh oh oh, last thing, let me know if you guys would prefer shorter chapters uploaded more often or longer chapters uploaded less often but still once a week at least.**

Maddi ran through the crowded streets of Dras-Leona as fast as she could. She ducked and dodged as many people as she could, but she still ran into a good deal of people, who in turn yelled and swore at her. She looked back and was pleased to see that the soldiers that had been chasing her had gotten caught up in the crowd and were unable to move as quickly as she. She heard a few shouts for her to come back or stop for the soldiers, but she ignored them and cut down a side alley. She didn't slow down until she was sure that she had lost the soldiers, then she only did so to avoid suspicion. She couldn't afford to get caught now.

She walked as quickly as she could to an old, run-down building that had been a place of refuge for the past few weeks. She climbed through the boarded-up windows that served as the entrance to the then walked through a few hallways into the back room. There sat a small group of children ringed around another child.

Maddi felt responsible for this kids in a way she couldn't describe. Most of them were old slaves who, after Queen Nasuada had freed them, had found that their families had been killed, gone missing, or had been sold to some far away place. Maddi, herself only fourteen, had taken all the kids under her wing.

She moved closer to the child in the ring. Jonas, as his name was, had been sick for several weeks and hadn't gotten any better. If anything, he had gotten worse. It was his condition that had prompted Maddi to steal some medicine from an herbalist across town. Maddi moved forward towards Jonas, and the other kids moved back. Maddi quickly took off her jacket and pulled out all the medicine she had stashed around the various pockets. She was about to give him some when she heard a crash from the front room.

Maddi quickly threw her jacket over the medicine and shooed all the kids away from Jonas. The other children all scurried to the various hiding spots they had made for this exact purpose. Once she was sure everyone but Jonas was subtly hidden, Maddi pulled a knife from her belt and stalked silently to the front of the house. She didn't see a single person her whole time in the halls. In fact, she didn't see any people in the house. The only thing she saw even when she reached the front room was an exceptionally large tom cat, who ignored her presence and started to lick his paws.

Maddi watched the cat for several minutes before the cat jumped up, and walked over to her. Maddi squatted to pick up the cat, but he passed her and continued down the hall. Maddi soon gave chase. The cat got all the way to the back room before Maddi thought to stop it. She ran in front and bent down to pick up the creature, but found a surprising sight in the room.

A woman sat on the floor next to Jonas. Without even Turning around she said, "My name is Angela. You stole from me. Now stay where you are if you want your friend to live."


	3. The Tournament Continues

**Ok guys, back with the third chapter! As always reviews are welcome and I love them. We're gonna be back with the Tyler and Justin this chapter. Without anymore ado, wait, what does ado even mean? Well I'll find out later. Anyways, back to the story**

Tyler pushed through the crowd with Justin close on his heels. Once they go to the front of the crowd Justin sat down as a group of little kids gathered around him to ask about his match. He quickly shushed them and pointed to the on going match, which soon captured their attention. Tyler also watched, ensnared, by the bout going on in front of them.

Two people circled the ring. Both were tall but one was blonde and the other had brown hair. On the far side from Tyler and Justin two flalgs stood up for the brown haired kid, while only one stood for the blonde. The blonde kid charged at his opponent, sword raised for the attack. The other one crouched behind his shield as the blonde kid attacked. He caught the first slash on his shield and then stabbed out at the blonde kid's hip. The blonde kid twisted to avoid the stab and then aimed a backlash at the brown haired kids feet. The brown haired kid jumped over the blade and slashed at the blonde's knee.

The slash connected. And the third flag went up for the brown haired kid.

The brown haired kid stood in the middle of the ring, gloating. The other kid sulked off, and Tyler shoved through the crowd after him .

Justin soon found himself lost in the crowd, with no one familiar near him. With no more matches for the rest of the day, he decided to go home. He got up, and walked to the outer walls. He didn't turn at any of the streeets, nor when he reached the gate itself, he walked right out of the city. The guards waved at him as he passed by, one even stopped him and congradulated him on his victory in his match earlier. Justin thanked him ans continued walking.

After five minutes outside the city, Justin walked into his camp. He checked the pot he had put over the fire earlier that morning, and delitefully found that some of the stew he had made for breakfast was left. He quickly found a bowl and poured the remainder of the stew in. Justin then checked for a spoon and ,when he found one, he shoveled the stew into his mouth happily. Justin had just dozed off when Tyler came blundering into hi camp.

"That stuborn little git refuses to talk to me," Tyler complained.

"I assume you mean Caleb," Justin said, finishing the last of his stew. He looked longingly at the pot, but found no more. He contented himself with a cup of coffee as Tyler started again.

"Yes! He's decided that he's going to stay inside until the tournament ends."

"Oh well, guess we won't be seeing much of him. Too bad..." Justin said sarcastically.

"Barzul," Tyler cursed in dwarvish, "Yeah. Can't change anything now." Tyler said eyeing the camp. "I don't know why you don't stay with us. Just cuz your parents died doesn't mean you have to live by yourself"

"Eh," Justin replied, "I like it out here. It's nice, peaceful, and for whatever reason I like the forrest much more than the city.'

"Ok, if you say so. I'm gonna head home now. If need anything you know where to find me," Tyler said as he walked off towards the city. Justin acknowledged him with a wave.

Justin tidied up his camp a bit then, eyeing the setting sun, decided to go to sleep. He crawled into his low tent and curled up for a pleasant slumber.


	4. So It Ends

**Up goes another chapter! Hopefully we're gonna finish the tournament now and be back with Maddi in the next chapter to see what happens with her and Angela! If you're enjoying this story at all please leave a review just so I know people are reading this and liking it. Anyways, back to the story. Atra du evarinya ono varda.**

Justin woke up to the sound of a low growl and a gasp of surprise, followed by a pleading for him to wake up. He quickly crawled out of his tent to find Shade, his dog, standing over a panicked girl. He clicked his tongue and Shade immediately got up, walked over to Justin, and sat down next to him. Justin walked up to the girl and helped her up.

"I didn't know you had him," the girl said, gesturing at Shade, "What kind of dog is he?"

Justin looked at his brown and black dog. He had a long snout, upturned ears, and a long bushy tail, but Justin had no clue what kind of dog it was. "I don't know. I found him when he was a puppy, so now he's mine." He looked at the girl and didn't recognize her, "Who are you?"

"My name's Marcia. I was asked to come get you. You have a fight in an hour," Justin quickly bolted around his camp, grabbing his shield and sword as he went. The last thing he grabbed before leaving was the knife he had had since before he could remember.

"Okay, let's go," Justin said to Marcia. He started walking and both Shade and Marcia followed.

Justin was more than content to walk in silence, but Marcia had other ideas. She asked Justin about everything, his camp, his family, and even if he liked any of the girls from the town. Justin, of course, staved off every question, especially about his family. Marcia wouldn't be denied though, and she continued to ask about everything. Eventually Justin stopped and turned tot her.

"I don't have any family. They died when I was young. That camp isn't a hang out or clubhouse or whatever you thought it was, it''s my home and where I live. I don't like any of the girls here and to be honest I can't get away to leave." Justin then turned and kept walking, leaving Marcia in the dust. Shade sat and looked at her for a minute, then followed Justin.

Marcia hurried to catch up with Justin, "Oh my gods, I'm so sorry! I had no idea!' But Justin wouldn't talk this time.

Before long, they walked through the city gate. No sooner had they done that then Justin walked off towards the tent where competiters got ready for their matches. He got there as quickly as possible, angry over his recent conversation.. He pushed open the flaps of the tent and walked over to one of the elven spellcasters to get his sword dulled. The magician murmured a few quick words in the Ancient Language and sent Justin off on his way. Justin went over to a three-legged stool and sat down to wait for his name to be called.

After half an hour Justin's name was called along with another human competiter who he didn't know. They both walked out the back of the tent and towards the middle of the city where they would be competing. They passed many people who cheered when both boys passed them, and followed behind, eager to watch the fight. Justin and his opponent soon entered the ring, and it was quickly surrounded by spectaters. Justin and the other boy, who was named Jared, went to opposite sidess of the circle and bowed to each other before drawing their swords.

They both circled the ring, watching the other. Justin waited for Jared to make the first move, as it would be easier to defend againsts an attack than to initiate one. But Jared showed no signs of attacking, Justin even dropped his guard inentionally twice in an attempt to bait the other boy into attackig. Justin realized after the second attempt that Jared would not start the bout. He then started to analyze his opponent. The other boy was tall and slim, most likely a farmers child judging by the quality of his sword, which was rusted in several places, and his hield, wwhich was dented and splintered. He was unfamiliar with the weapons in his hand and had never had any formal training, which attributed to the awkward way he held his sword. He more than likely had had one of the town soldiers teach him how to fight a week or so before the tournment. Which meant the soldier would not have had time to prroperly train the kid and would have given him the basics, the first of which was never to initiate a fight, let it come to you.

Justin took all of that in in less than a few seconds as his warriors mind intinctively went in to action. He immediately thought of how to attack. He went through several scenarios and found one that he liked. He crouched low and ran towards Jared. He stopped short and made a few mock swings at him to see how the other boy would react.. Jared flinched, just like Justin hoped he would. JUstin feinted a slash to Jared's left, and when Jared turned his sheild to block it, Justin dropped low and kicked Jared's legs out from under him. Jared however, saw the aattack and jumped over Justin's leg. Justin quickly rolled away to avoid an overhead blow from Jared, who had landed nicely and striked quickly. Justin rolled again, this time gaining his feet, to get away from his opponent.

Justin quickly checked his earlier judgement and looked closer to see what he had missed. The 'rust' on the blade appeared to be some sort of paint made to look like the blade had rusted, and while Jared had earlier held his sword and sheild awkwardly, he now held them with confidence, as if he knew what he was doing. Justin scolded himself again, surely a farm boy who didnn't know what he was doing would have been eliminated by now. With the finals in the next round surely he would have been eleminated long before now.

Justin and Jared began to circle the ring again, each trying to judge the other's skill. Jared waited a few moments and then charged Justin. Justin was ready, and when Jared swung his sword in an overhead arc Justin rolled to his right. Jared's sword clanged of off the cobblestones, sending a shock up his sword arm. Justin immediately took two quick slashes at Jared, connected on both, and backed away before his adversary could retaliate.

Two flags went up for Justin.

Jared shook his arm, trying to get over the jolt. Soon enough, his arm was ok to swing again. Justin hadn't attacked since the last two blows to his shoulder and ribs, and Jared gave his opponent another look,trying to get a read on him. Justin, however, had crouched behind his shield with his eyes over the rim. Jared took a few steps towards him, but Justin stayed behind his shield. Jared took two more steps and Justin flicked out his sword in a stab at Jareds ribs. Jared moved his shield in front of the stab though, and Justin's sword got caught in the wood. His sword was immediately torn from his grasp as Jared yanked on his shield.

Justin watched the look of surprise on Jared's face as he saw Justin's sword come free of his grasp. He quickly shook the sword out and kicked it out of the ring. Then the look of surprise turned to one of pure delight as Jared realized Justin could no longer attack. He took a few steps back to catch his breath, while Justin continued to crouch behind his shield. He slowly moved his hand behind his back and drew his knife from its sheath. He quickly moved his hand to a position behind his shield where Jared couldn't see it. Luckily for him, Jared didn't seem to notice the movement..

Jared took long, measured steps towards Justin. Justin's lack of sword had goaded him into a reckless idea. He pulled back his left arm, and threw his shield at Justin. Justin blocked the projectile with his own shield and dove away from the strike he knew would follow. As he dove, he pulled his knife out from behind his shield and threw it under-hand at Jared.

Justin was right. Jared swung at air while Justin's knife connected with his back.

A sharp sound echoed over the silent crowd as Justin's knife clattered on the street.

And the third flag went up.

The crowd yelled once they realized what had happened. Jared bent over and picked up Justin's knife. he handed it too him, and after Justin sheathed it, they both shook hands. "Goodluck in the finals," Jared said and Justin thanked him. He quickly turned and walked into the crowd, looking for his sword. He found it a lot farther from the ring than he expected. As he bent down to pick it up someone grabbed his shoulder from behind.

Justin turned on a dime and had the sword against the other person's neck. He recognized Marcia and lowered his sword. Her face was eccstatic, "Guess who one the other match?" Justin opened his mouth to reply, but Marcia cut him off, "Tyler won!" Justin smiled and walked over to the referee from his match. They wispered a few quick words, and the ref eventually nodded at Justin. Justin immediately ran in the direction of the other ring.

"Attention everyone!" the referee yelled to the crowd, "The final match will take place immediately at the Town Center Ring." Anything he said after that was lost in the rush of the crod to get to the other ring.

.

Justin and Tyler stood opposite of each other and listened as the Queen spoke. Justin really didn't listen to Queen Arya's speech. He didn't care much for words, and he was also distracted by her. The queen was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. He understood now why some people called elves " The Fair Folk". even more than her though, Justin was distracted by the immense dragon behind her. The green mass could have been a hill as far as Justin could tell.. Justin longed to reach out with his mind and speak to the dragon, but he knew it would be exceedingly rude to do so. So he refrained. The Queen congratulated both boys on their performance in the tournament then wished them luck in the coming fight. "Now," she said, "Let the contest begin!" And the rcrowd roared.

Justin and Tyler walked to the middleof the ring. Tyler had his sword drwn, Justin did not. They reached the center and Justin dropped his shield. Tyler rarised his sword and struck.

Instead of the hard blows the crowd expected, Tyler gently tapped Justin once on his left should, once on his right shoulder, and once on the top of his head. Tyler then sheathed his sword, and both boys turned and bowed to the Queen.

 **Hey guys, sorry about the wait for this chapter, but I wanted to make it a bit longer. Please drop a review and in the next chapter we'll be back with Maddi and Angela tto see how they work out!**


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